No amelioration for the deserving poor

Both the accident victim and the accused are mired in poverty and a state of helplessness 

Two years ago, the world came crashing down on Paramjit Kaur. The 37-year-old lost her right eye when the e-rickshaw she was travelling in turned turtle near Shahbad Dairy in Rohini.

The day, October 8, 4 p.m. is etched in Ms. Kaur’s memory. Around 4 p.m., she was headed to a nearby market with her husband and relatives to shop for an upcoming wedding in the family. The e-rickshaw driver allegedly made a rough cut at a traffic junction and lost control of the three-wheeler.

While four other passengers and the driver escaped with minor injuries, an iron bar of the vehicle hit Ms. Kaur’s eyes, blinding her in the right and damaging the optic nerve in the left.

“I will not be able to lead a normal life again or travel alone,” she said. “Earlier I used to be very active, cook for the entire family, do other household chores. Now I only keep sitting for most of the day and have become totally dependent on others,” Ms. Kaur told The Hindu, sitting outside her modest house in Rohini’s Sardar Colony.

The accident has also left Ms.Kaur with fractured jaws due to which she faces difficulty speaking. “We need ₹1,40,000 for her surgery,” Ms. Kaur’s brother-in-law Manjeet Singh said. The family also has to pay off debts incurred for previous surgeries, he added.

Ms. Kaur has three children, aged 17, 15 and 12, all of whom study in a government school. Before the accident, Ms. Kaur used to make bead necklaces at home and sell them for ₹400 each to a factory. The family is finding it difficult to make ends meet as her husband, who is a daily wager, is now the sole breadwinner. “I am now scarred for life,” she said.